Modern, With Bursts Of Cheer

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Thursday, April 16, 2009

Sally Steponkus created a modern sitting room in a small space that came loaded with problems: three doorways to work around and a hulking radiator.

The upstairs room she decorated with her associate Heather Safferstone uses an unconventional dark taupe-gray paint (Mouse's Back by Farrow & Ball) to create a dramatic backdrop. "I'm known for bright-colored traditional stuff, but this time I wanted to do something different," says Steponkus, whose firm is in Washington.

The duo paired the gray with cheerful yellow as an unexpected accent color. The result is warm, cozy and inviting, with the room's small-scale wing chairs in a graphic print and a compact, 76-inch-wide sofa in mushroom-colored cotton. The cashmere throw in lemon drop is from Williams-Sonoma Home. A three-paneled gilt and mirrored screen by Julian Chichester from the Adams Morgan store And Beige does a nice job of obscuring that radiator.

Note the Greek motif that pops up around the room; Steponkus was a classics major in college.

Jura Koncius